History of Rome, books 1-10

Here a quantity of missile weapons had been collected, far more than would be required for the men who had been brought there, and m addition there were large stones, some lying about as is usual in craggy places, others piled in heaps by the townsmen to use for the defence of the place.

When he had posted the Romans here and had pointed out to them a steep and narrow path leading up from the town, he said to them: “From this ascent even three armed men could keep back a multitude however large.

You are ten in number, and what is more you are Romans, and the bravest of them. You have the advantage of position and you will be helped by the night, which by its obscurity makes everything look more terrible. I will now spread panic everywhere; you devote yourselves to holding the citadel.”

Then he ran down and created as great a tumult as he possibly could, shouting: “To arms, citizens! Help, help! The citadel has been seized by the enemy, hasten to its defence!”

He kept up the alarm as he knocked at the doors of the principal men, he shouted it in the ears of all whom he met, of all who rushed out terror-struck into the streets. The panic which one man had started was carried by numbers through the city.

The magistrates hurriedly sent men up to the citadel to find out what had happened, and when they heard that it was held by an armed force, whose numbers were grossly exaggerated, they gave up all hopes of recovering it.

All quarters of the city were filled with fugitives; the gates were burst open by people who were only half awake and mostly without arms, and through one of these the Roman cohorts, roused by the shouting, rushed in and slew the frightened crowds who were thronging the streets.

Sora was already captured when in the early dawn the consul appeared and accepted the surrender of those whom Fortune had spared from the nocturnal massacre.

Amongst these two hundred and twenty-five were sent in chains to Rome as they were universally admitted to have been the instigators of the murder of the colonists and the revolt which followed. The rest of the population were left uninjured and a garrison was stationed in the town.

All those taken to Rome were scourged and beheaded to the great satisfaction of the plebs, who felt it to be a matter of supreme importance that those who had been sent out in such large numbers as colonists should be safe wherever they were.

After leaving Sora the consuls extended the war to the cities and fields of Ausonia, for the whole country had become restless owing to the presence of the Samnites after the battle of Lautulae.

Plots were being hatched everywhere throughout Campania, even Capua was not free from disaffection, and it was found upon investigation that the movement had actually reached some of the principal men in Rome.

It was, however, as in the case of Sora, through the betrayal of her cities that Ausonia fell under the power of Rome.

There were three cities —Ausona, Menturnae, and Vescia — which some twelve young men belonging to the principal families there had mutually agreed to betray to the Romans.

They came to the consuls and informed them that their people had long been looking forward to the arrival of the Samnites, and after they had heard of the battle of Lautulae, they looked upon the Romans as vanquished and many of the younger men had volunteered to serve with the Samnites After the Samnites,

however, had been driven out of their country they were wavering between peace and war, afraid to close their gates to the Romans lest they should provoke a war and yet determined to close them if a Roman army approached their city. In this state of indecision they would fall an easy prey.

Acting on their advice, the Romans moved their camp into the neighbourhood of these cities, and at the same time soldiers were despatched, some fully armed, to occupy concealed positions near the walls, others in ordinary dress, with swords hidden under their togas, were to enter the cities through the open gates at the approach of daylight.

As soon as the latter began to attack the guards the signal was given for the others to rush from their ambush. Thus the gates were secured, and the three towns were captured at the same time and by the same stratagem.

As the generals were not there to direct the attack, there was no check upon the carnage which ensued, and the nation of the Ausonians was exterminated, just as if they had been engaged in an internecine war, though there was no certain proof of their having revolted.

During this year the Roman garrison at Luceria was treacherously betrayed, and the Samnites became masters of the place.

The traitors did not go long unpunished. A Roman army was not far away, and the city, which lay in a plain, was taken at the first assault.

The Lucerines and Samnites were put to death, no quarter being given, and such deep indignation was felt at Rome that when the question of sending fresh colonists to Luceria was under discussion in the senate many voted for the complete destruction of the city.

Not only the bitter feeling towards a people who had been twice subdued but also the distance from Rome made them shrink from banishing their countrymen so far from home.

However, the proposal to despatch colonists was adopted; 2500 were sent. Whilst disloyalty was thus manifesting itself everywhere, Capua also became the centre of intrigues amongst some of her principal men.

When the matter came up in the senate, there was a general feeling that it ought to he dealt with at once.

A decree was passed authorising the immediate opening of a court of inquiry, and C. Maenius was nominated Dictator to conduct the proceedings. M. Foslius was appointed Master of the Horse. The greatest alarm was created by this step, and the Calavii, Ovius, Novius, who had been the ringleaders, did not wait to be denounced to the Dictator, but placed themselves beyond the reach of prosecution by what was undoubtedly a self-inflicted death.

As there was no longer any matter for investigation at Capua, the inquiry was directed to those who were suspected in Rome.

The decree was interpreted as authorising an inquiry, not in regard to Capua especially, but generally in respect of all who had formed cabals and conspiracies against the republic, including the secret leagues entered into by candidates for office. The inquiry began to embrace a wider scope both with respect to the nature of the alleged offences and the persons affected, and the Dictator insisted that

the authority vested in him as criminal judge was unlimited.

Men of high family were indicted, and no one was allowed to appeal to the tribunes to arrest proceedings. When matters had gone thus far, the nobility — not only those against whom information was being laid, but the order as a whole —protested

that the charge did not lie on the patricians, to whom the path to honours always lay open, unless it was obstructed by intrigue, but on the novi homines.

They even asserted that the Dictator and the Master of the Horse were more fit to be put upon their trial than to act as inquisitors in cases where this charge was brought, and they would find that out as soon as they had vacated their office.

Under these circumstances, Maenius, more anxious to clear his reputation than to retain his office, came forward in the Assembly and addressed it in the following terms: “You are all cognisant, Quirites, of what my life has been in the past, and this very office which has been conferred upon me is a testimony to my innocence.

There are men amongst the nobility —as to their motives it is better that you should form your own opinion than that I, holding the office I do, should say anything without proof —who tried their utmost to stifle this inquiry.

When they found themselves powerless to do this they sought to shelter themselves, patricians though they were, behind the stronghold of their opponents, the tribunician veto, so as to escape from trial.

At last, driven from that position, and thinking my course safer than that of trying to prove their innocence, they have directed their assaults against us, and private citizens have not been ashamed to demand the impeachment of the Dictator.

Now, that gods and men alike may know that in trying to avoid giving an account of themselves these men are attempting the impossible, and that I am prepared to answer any charge and meet my accusers face to face, I at once resign my Dictatorship.

And if the senate should assign the task to you, consuls, I beg that you will begin with M. Foslius and myself, so that it may be conclusively shown that we are protected from such charges, not by our official position, but by our innocence.” He then at once laid down his office, followed by the Master of the Horse.

They were the first to be tried before the consuls, for so the senate ordered, and as the evidence given by the nobles against them completely broke down, they were triumphantly acquitted.

Even Publilius Philo, a man who had repeatedly filled the highest offices as a reward for his services at home and in the field, but who was disliked by the nobility, was put on his trial and acquitted.

As usual, however, it was only whilst this inquisition was a novelty that it had strength enough to attack illustrious names; it soon began to stoop to humbler victims, until it was at length stifled by the very cabals and factions which it had been instituted to suppress.

The rumour of these proceedings, and, still more, the expectation of a Campanian revolt, which had already been secretly organised, recalled the Samnites from their designs in Apulia.

They marched to Caudium, which from its proximity to Capua would make it easy for them, if the opportunity offered, to wrest that city from the Romans.

The consuls marched to Caudium with a strong force. For some time both armies remained in their positions on either side of the pass, as they could only reach each other by a most difficult route.

At length the Samnites descended by a short detour through open country into the flat district of Campania, and there for the first time they came within sight of each other's camp.

There were frequent skirmishes, in which the cavalry played a greater part than the infantry, and the Romans had no cause to be dissatisfied with these trials of strength, nor with the delay which was prolonging the war.

The Samnite generals, on the other hand, saw that these daily encounters involved daily losses, and that the prolongation of the war was sapping their strength.

They decided, therefore, to bring on an action. They posted their cavalry on the two flanks of their army with instructions to keep their attention on their camp, in case it were attacked, rather than on the battle, which would be safe in the hands of the infantry.

On the other side, the consul Sulpicius directed the right wing, Poetilius the left. The Roman right was drawn up in more open order than usual, as the Samnites opposed to them were standing in thinly extended ranks in order either to surround the enemy or to prevent themselves from being surrounded.

The left, which was in a much closer formation, was further strengthened by a rapid manoeuvre of Poetilius, who suddenly brought up into the fighting line the cohorts which were usually kept in reserve, in case the battle was prolonged. He then charged the enemy with his full strength.

As the Samnite infantry were shaken by the weight of the attack their cavalry came to their support, and riding obliquely between the two armies were met by the Roman cavalry who charged them at a hard gallop and threw infantry and cavalry alike into confusion, until they had forced back the whole line in this part of the field.

Sulpicius was taking his part with Poetilius in encouraging the men in this division, for on hearing the battleshout raised he had ridden across from his own division, which was not yet engaged.

Seeing that the victory was no longer doubtful here he rode back to his post with his 1200 cavalry, but he found a very different condition of things there, the Romans had been driven from their ground and the victorious enemy were pressing them hard.

The presence of the consul produced a sudden and complete change, the courage of the men revived at the sight of their general, and the cavalry whom he had brought up rendered an assistance out of all proportion to their numbers, whilst the sound, followed soon by the sight of the success on the other wing, re-animated the combatants to redouble their exertions.

From this moment the Romans were victorious along the whole line, and the Samnites abandoning all further resistance, were all killed or taken prisoners, with the exception of those who succeeded in escaping to Maleventum, now called Beneventum Their loss in prisoners and slain is stated by the chroniclers to have amounted to 30,000.

After this great victory the consuls advanced to Bovianum, which they proceeded to invest.

They remained there in winter quarters until C. Poetilius, who had been named Dictator with M. Foslius as Master of the Horse, took over the army from the new consuls, L. Papirius Cursor, consul for the fifth time, and C. Junius Bubulcus, for the second time.

On learning that the citadel of Fregellae had been captured by the Samnites, he raised the siege of Bovianum and marched to Fregellae. The place was retaken without fighting, for the Samnites evacuated it in the night, and after leaving a strong garrison there, the Dictator returned to Campania with the main object of recovering Nola.

At his approach the whole of the Samnite population and the native peasantry retired within the wails.

After examining the position of the city, he gave orders for all the buildings outside the wall —and there was a considerable population in the suburbs —to be destroyed in order to render the approach easier. Not long afterwards, Nola was taken, either by the Dictator or by the consul, C. Junius, for both accounts are given.

Those who give the credit of the capture to the consul state that Atina and Calatia were also taken by him, and they explain the appointment of Poetilius by saying that he was nominated Dictator for the purpose of driving in the nail on the outbreak of an epidemic.

Colonies were sent out this year to Suessa and Pontia; Suessa had belonged to the Auruncans, and the island of Pontia had been inhabited by the Volscians, as it lay off their coast.

The senate also authorised the settlement of a colony at Interamna on the Casinus, but it fell to the succeeding consuls, M. Valerius and P. Decius, to appoint the commissioners and send out the colonists to the number of 4000.

The Samnite war was now drawing to a close, but before the senate could dismiss it entirely from their thoughts there was a rumour of war on the side of Etruria.

With the one exception of the Gauls, no nation was more dreaded at that time, owing to their proximity to Rome and their vast population.

One of the consuls remained in Samnium to finish the war, the other, P. Decius, was detained in Rome by serious illness, and on instructions from the senate, nominated C. Junius Bubulcus Dictator.

In view of the seriousness of the emergency the Dictator compelled all who were liable for service to take the military oath, and used his utmost endeavours to have arms and whatever else was required in readiness. Notwithstanding the great preparations he was making, he had no intention of assuming the aggressive, and had quite made up his mind to wait until the Etruscans made the first move The Etruscans were equally energetic in their preparations, and equally reluctant to commence hostilities.

Neither side went outside their own frontiers. This year (312 B.C.> was signalised by the censorship of Appius Claudius. His claim to distinction with posterity rests mainly upon his public works, the road and the aqueduct which bear his name.

He carried out these undertakings single-handed, for, owing to the odium he incurred by the way he

revised the senatorial lists and filled up the vacancies, his colleague, thoroughly ashamed of his conduct, resigned. In the obstinate temper which had always marked his house, Appius continued to hold office alone.

It was owing to his action that the Potitii, whose family had always possessed

the right of ministering at the Ava Maxima of Hercules, transferred that duty to some temple servants, whom they had instructed in the various

observances. There is a strange tradition connected with this, and one well calculated to create religious scruples in the minds of any who would disturb the established order of ceremonial usages. It is said that though when the change was made there were twelve branches of the family of the Potitii comprising thirty adults, not one member, old or young, was alive twelve months

later. Nor was the extinction of the Potitian name the only consequence; Appius himself some years afterwards was struck with blindness by the unforgetting wrath of the gods.

The consuls for the following year were C. Junius Bubulcus (for the third time) and Q. Aemilius Barbula (for the second time). At the beginning of their year of office they laid a complaint before the Assembly touching the unscrupulous way in which vacancies in the senate had been filled up, men having been passed over who were far superior to some who had been selected, whereby the whole senatorial order had been sullied and disgraced.

They declared that the selection had been made solely with a view to popularity and out of sheer caprice, and that no regard whatever had been paid to the good or bad characters of those chosen.

They then gave out that they should ignore them altogether, and at once proceeded to call over the names of the senators as they appeared on the roll before Appius Claudius and C. Plautius were made censors. Two official posts were for the first time this year placed at the disposal of the people, both of a military character. One was the office of military tribune ; sixteen were henceforth appointed by the people for the four legions; these had hitherto been selected by the Dictators and consuls, very few places being left to the popular vote. L. Atilius and C. Marcius, tribunes of the plebs, were responsible for that measure.

The other was the post of naval commissioner; the people were to appoint two to superintend the equipment and refitting of the fleet. This provision was due to M. Decius, a tribune of the plebs.

An incident of a somewhat trifling character occurred this year which I should have passed over did it not appear to be connected with religious customs. The guild of flute-players had been forbidden by the censors to hold their annual banquet in the temple of Jupiter, a privilege they had enjoyed from ancient times Hugely disgusted, they went off in a body to Tibur, and not one was left in the City to perform at the sacrificial rites.

The senate were alarmed at the prospect of the various religious ceremonies being thus shorn of their due ritual, and they sent envoys to Tibur, who were to make it their business to see that the Romans got these men back again.

The Tiburtines promised to do their best, and invited the musicians into the Senate-house, where they were strongly urged to return to Rome. As they could not be persuaded to do so the Tiburtines adopted a ruse quite appropriate to the character of the men they were dealing with.

It was a feast day and they were invited to various houses, ostensibly to supply music at the banquets. Like the rest of their class, they were fond of wine, and they were plied with it till they drank themselves into a state of torpor.

In this condition they were thrown into wagons and carried off to Rome. They were left in the wagons all night in the Forum, and did not recover their senses till daylight surprised them still suffering from the effect of their debauch.

The people crowded round them and succeeded in inducing them to stay, and they were granted the privilege of going about the City for three days every year in their long dresses and masks with singing and mirth; a custom which is still observed. Those members of the guild who played on solemn occasions in the temple of Jupiter had the right restored to them of holding their banquets there. These incidents occurred while the public attention was fixed on two most serious wars.

The consuls drew lots for their respective commands; the Samnites fell to Junius, the new theatre of war in Etruria to Aemilius.

The Roman garrison of Cluvia in Samnium, alter being unsuccessfully attacked, were starved into surrender, and were then massacred after being cruelly mangled by the scourge.

Enraged at this brutality, Junius felt that the first thing to be done was to attack Cluvia, and on the very day he arrived before the place he took it by storm and put all the adult males to death. Thence his conquering army marched to Bovianum.

This was the chief city of the Pentrian Samnites, and by far the wealthiest and best supplied with arms.

There was not the same cause for resentment here as at Cluvia, the soldiers were mainly animated by the prospect of plunder, and on the capture of the place the enemy were treated with less severity; but there was almost more booty collected there than from all the rest of Samnium, and the whole of it was generously given up to the soldiers.

Now that nothing could withstand the overwhelming might of Roman arms, neither armies nor camps nor cities, the one idea in the minds of all the Samnite leaders was to choose some position from which Roman troops when scattered on their foraging expeditions might be caught and surrounded.

Some peasants who pretended to be deserters and some who had, either deliberately or by accident, been made prisoners, came to the consuls with a story in which they all agreed, and which really was true, namely, that an immense quantity of cattle had been driven into a pathless forest. The consuls were induced by this story to send the legions, with nothing but their kits to encumber them, in the direction the cattle had taken, to secure them.